Hayley Wheeler - City should show they are bigger than Tevez

06 July 2011 11:10

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There is still 57 days to go before the transfer window closes and, I don't know about you, but I can't wait for it to be over. Endless unfounded speculation about this player and that player on the move, made even worse when it's your clubs most influential star being gossiped about.

It will have come as a shock to no one that Manchester city have been the biggest movers and shakers this summer, flexing their huge spending muscles where ever they please. It seems they have it all – the power, the money, the players. But one thing they don’t have is a happy captain.

Once again Carlos Tevez has made it clear to the club and the fans that he is not happy at City and has requested to leave.

The want-away striker cited homesickness and being too far away from his family as his reasons for wanting to leave (I have a strong case of déjà vu right about now!). If my memory serves me correctly this is the very same reason he stated last time he requested to leave the club. But after much bargaining on the clubs side, Tevez reluctantly decided to stay, and as promised, he has 100% on the pitch.

His commitment and dedication to the club might be questioned by some but he has been unhappy at the club for quite some time and it is understandable that he misses his family, especially his daughters. His quality of life cannot be questioned. He is rich beyond belief and will be living in pure luxury. But all this does not equate to the kind of happiness that family brings, and it is easy to understand why, after living in Argentina all their lives, his family cannot adapt to life in England.

Should Manchester City feel any sympathy for the Argentineans predicament? He wanted to leave in the last transfer window and decided to stay and try to keep working and focus on getting City into the Champions League, which he and his colleagues achieved. Now should they feel a moral obligation to let him go for his own sake? If Tevez genuinely wants to leave to be with his family I believe Man City should not make the move more difficult than it needs to be for him, cut their losses and find a replacement. As good as he is, he is replaceable and how long will he keep giving so much on the pitch when he is being forced to stay somewhere he is unhappy. Cue the old player versus club power debate now.

However, Teves has been in England since 2006 and it should
have become crystal clear within his time here whether it would be somewhere
his family could settle and if not, then he shouldn’t have committed the next
few years to Man City.After all, they
are a business and it is not their problem to make sure his family would
settle.He seemed happy to commit at the
time so he should honour that commitment.

Some City fans seem to think his excuses for wanting to leave are really just a smokescreen for wanting to play in Spain or Italy. This may be true, but I am sure they are all united in not wanting a player at their club who does not want to be there. And quite frankly, how long can the club pander to his every whim and give him special treatment. City have got the cash and the pulling power of the Champions League to find an adequate replacement. Maybe it’s time to let him go, but not without the appropriate compensation City deserve.